Wheelchair Foundation
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The Wheelchair Foundation (WF) is a non-profit organization founded in June 2000 by real estate developer Ken Behring, and based in Blackhawk, California. The foundation partners with donors (individuals, groups and companies) to provide wheelchairs to people who need them but can not afford them, mostly in developing nations. As of November 2007, WF has delivered over 645,000 wheelchairs to people in need in 150 nations.
The foundation partners with various service organizations, including Rotary Clubs, the Knights of Columbus and Sister Cities International, to raise the funds for the wheelchairs, to staff wheelchair distributions, and to deliver the wheelchairs around the world.
The WF International Board of Advisors includes a number of current and former heads of state and celebrities, including co-chairs Juan Carlos and Sophia of Spain, as well as Mikhail Gorbachev and Nelson Mandela.
There is considerable criticism of the work of the Wheelchair Foundation, never acknowledged by Behring and his aides, that donations of wheelchairs in low-income countries have very substantial disadvantages. The one-size fits-all philiosphy denies the need to idnividually fit wheelchairs to the recipients, and the practice of delivering wheelchairs in large numbers, without understanding the wheelchair production activities - often infant - within a country, can have a devastating effect on developing indigenous capacity and sustainability.
The Blackhawk Museum, also founded by Behring, houses a 3,000 square foot showcasing the Wheelchair Foundation's work around the world.
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